Eugenie Bouchard wins her first match of 2024 on comeback to tennis after pickleball pivot

Former World No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard made a winning comeback after a long injury layoff. She did so by defeating Justina Mikulskyte at the Zephyrhills ITF tournament on Wednesday, May 8.

Bouchard was one of the most gifted tennis players to hail from Canada. With her high-risk playing style of big serving and aggressive baseline shotmaking, she rose to the top of women's tennis.

Bouchard had only one title to her name, which she won at the Nuremberg Cup in 2014 by beating Karolina Pliskova in the final. One of the Canadian's major achievements was her run to the 2014 Wimbledon final, where she was defeated by Petra Kvitova.

However, a drop in form, coupled with injuries halted her on-court progress. She suffered from a complex shoulder injury which could only be treated by surgical means.

In early 2024, Bouchard made a career pivot by starting to play pro pickleball.

“Look, pickleball is crazy," said Bouchard after her pickleball debut (via globalnews.ca).

However, she decided to make a comeback to tennis this month year. In her match against Mikulskyte, she looked dominant on the court to produce high-quality tennis and completely overwhelm her opponent.

Tennis journalist Jose Morgado tweeted that even after involving herself in pickleball, Bouchard could still play tennis at the highest level.

"Pickleball? ❌ Tennis? Very much still ✅ Former WTA top 5 Eugenie Bouchard defeats #224 Justina Mikulskyte 6-1, 6-2 (!) to reach the 2nd round of a Zephyrhills ITF W75 (green clay). That was Genie's first tennis match since winning the BJK Cup in November..." on X (Formerly Twitter)

Eugenie Bouchard was integral to the Canadian team that won the Billie Jean Cup last year. Along side Gabriela Debrawoski, Bouchard won doubles matches against the Spanish pair of Rebeka Masarova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, and the Polish duo of Weronika Falkowska and Katarzyna Kawa.

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"It's wild for me" - Bouchard recounts her experience of playing pickleball

Eugenie Bouchard at The Netflix Slam

Pickleball is a sport that is slowly gaining traction among players and the audience. There have been instances when former tennis players have decided to involve themselves in the new sport.

Eugenie Bouchard, being one of them, stated that pickleball was a completely wild and new experience for her. She also talked about the technical challenge of playing with a shorter paddle instead of the taller tennis racquet that hampered the shotmaking for the Canadian.

“It’s wild for me to just play a completely different sport,” said Bouchard.

“So I like either completely whiff the ball or I just hit the tip of the paddle and miss my shot.”